Tetragonal Superstructure of the Antiskyrmion Hosting Heusler Compound MnPtSn.

Skyrmions in non-centrosymmetric magnets are vortex-like spin arrangements, viewed as potential candidates for information storage devices. The crystal structure and noncollinear magnetic structure together with magnetic and spin-orbit interactions define the symmetry of the skyrmion structure. We outline the importance of these parameters in the Heusler compound MnPtSn which hosts antiskyrmions, a vortex-like spin texture related to skyrmions.

First-principles study of the structural stability of cubic, tetragonal and hexagonal phases in Mn₃Z (Z=Ga, Sn and Ge) Heusler compounds.

We investigate the structural stability and magnetic properties of the cubic, tetragonal and hexagonal phases of Mn3Z (Z=Ga, Sn and Ge) Heusler compounds using first-principles density-functional theory. We propose that the cubic phase plays an important role as an intermediate state in the phase transition from the hexagonal to the tetragonal phases. Consequently, Mn3Ga and Mn3Ge behave differently from Mn3Sn, because the relative energies of the cubic and hexagonal phases are different.